At Ashiya’s shore,
Where they burn salt on the strand,
No moment of rest—
So even a boxwood comb
I have not worn in my hair.

Meaning

At the shore of Nada in Ashiya, the people who burn salt are so busy with their work that they have no time even to place a boxwood comb in their hair.

Commentary

87. Even a Boxwood Comb

There was once a man who lived in the village of Ashiya in the province of Settsu (present-day Hyōgo Prefecture), because he had lands there through family connections.
The poem is an old poem describing the village of Ashiya.

The poem serves as a poetic introduction to the village of Ashiya. It tells that the people who produced salt there were poor and worked so constantly that they had no leisure even for such small matters as arranging their hair with a boxwood comb.

The old poem appears in the Man’yōshū as “A poem by Ishikawa no Oto.” The author of The Tales of Ise recorded it again here, altering the wording of the original poem, which reads: “The fisherfolk of Shika gather seaweed and burn salt, having no leisure even to take up the small comb for combing their hair.”

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

At Ashiya’s shore, Where they burn salt on the strand, No moment of rest— So even a boxwood comb I have not worn in my hair.

At Ashiya’s shore,
Where they burn salt on the strand,
No moment of rest—
So even a boxwood comb
I have not worn in my hair.